Making sense (and, sometimes, nonsense) out of Current News, Issues, Politics

Friday, July 29, 2011

Only Four-Tenths Of A Percent GDP Growth In The First Quarter?

Sometimes, you'll see numbers from the Obama Administration that just make your head wanna explode; and, this morning was no exception.

What I am talking about is the latest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report as being released by Obama's Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA). For four months now, the First Quarter GDP growth number, month-by-month, has gone through several iterations. Initially, its was reported by the BEA to be 1.8%. Then, the following month, the First Quarter growth was again reported to be 1.8%. In the 3rd attempt to nail down the number, the growth for the First Quarter was actually bumped upwards to 1.9%; making the general population think there was an actual improvement over the previous reports. Now, just a month after bumping the growth from 1.8% to 1.9%, this mornings revision came in at just 0.4%!

My God, where the hell did that number come from? Going from 1.9% to .4% isn't just a tweaking of the previous three numbers, it's a complete blow up of those earlier reports. This kind of thing just makes one wonder about what is going on and how much politics is playing a part in the reporting of our economic activity. Obviously, if that meager .4% growth was reported at the beginning of this First Quarter reporting exercise, Obama's economic policies would have been under serious attack. However, by reporting it now. with all the focus being on the "new" Second Quarter GDP number, the Obama Administration is somewhat able to sneak this horrible number in under the radar of the general, voting public.

Given this kind of shenanigans, can anyone really trust this morning's initial Second Quarter GDP report? Is it possible that we really had negative GDP growth last quarter and, like the reporting of the First Quarter's data, we won't find this fact out until the initial Third Quarter report is released? I guess we'll just have to wait another three months to really find out! As I have said may times before: "So much for the most transparent Administration in the history of the United States!"